Paul Schrader Tackles ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’

Paul Schrader once told me that if he weren’t a filmmaker then he’d probably be writing a movie blog with a couple of capsules and full-length reviews written Per week, ala what Pauline Kael made famous at The New Yorker.

Well, that’s kind of what Schrader’s been doing on Facebook. For the past few years, He’s been playing movie critic with the latest releases. His movie opinions are fantastic and indeed Kael-esque in their frankness.

In his latest social media post, Schrader decided to write about Edward Berger’s “All Quiet on the Western Front,” which I reviewed a few weeks ago:

I have yet to rewatch it since my initial screening in September at TIFF, but I will say that “All Quiet on the Western Front” doesn’t reinvent the war movie. There’s gloss. There’s familiarity. It’s overlong. But that doesn’t necessarily make the film unworthy of a watch. The action is elaborately staged, the editing beautifully fluid. This should be seen on the biggest screen possible and the fact that it’s streaming on Netflix means that most audiences won’t be experiencing Berger’s film to its full extent.

Back to Schrader, he premiered his latest, “Master Gardener,” at Venice in September and that was followed by a NYFF bow. The film still doesn’t have a US distributor, but I’m being told two companies are currently vying, competing, for it and a deal could be made before year’s end.

“Master Gardener” wasn’t as well-reviewed as Schrader’s last two films (“First Reformed” and “The Card Counter”) so it’s definitely at a disadvantage, commercially speaking, without the full backing of critics this time around.